Hi Enhancers! 

I hope that you all are doing well! Thank you for stopping by to check out my first blog post!! If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you have probably seen, liked, commented, screenshot or, reached out to me about one of my vegetarian dishes displaying the versatility of fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices. After many texts, calls, dm’s and emails, asking, “What made you decide to go vegetarian?”, I decided to use this platform to answer this question and many others that I receive regarding wellness. 

…I am not the best writer, so no judging <3

Two things that I’ve always battled with, physically, have been my skin and weight. 

Growing up I had a pretty active lifestyle, not only did I grow up in the last era when children played outside (playing hide & go seek, hopscotch, kickball, dodgeball, riding bikes, etc.), throughout elementary, middle and high school I played: basketball, softball, ran track & field, I even danced ballet, tap, and jazz. 

Although I was physically active, I still struggled with my weight. 

I was told several times that it was “baby weight” and that it would come off soon, or I’d grow into it. So I just believed that my weight, as an issue, would magically go away one day. 

Not only was my physical life active, so were my stomach and tastebuds! I ate everything that I set my eyes on sugary cereals, fruit snacks, chips, cookies, cakes, pies, bbq ribs, baked chicken, fried fish, and a ton of spicy foods! During those years I completely replaced water with what I thought were ‘water substitutes’ such as vitamin water, apple juice, fuse, and anything that was label as the diet version, as you can imagine, this affected my weight and skin.

Wanting to overcome the weight and skin issues I tried diet after diet, skincare line after skincare line, which resulted in little to no weight loss and/or increased skin concerns (we’ll delve deeper into diets and skincare lines in future blog posts). 

During my junior year of undergraduate school, I watched a documentary which showed an undercover view of meat and chicken processing plants, that day I transitioned my lifestyle to vegetarian. At that point, it was about animals and my health. I began to notice immediate improvements in my weight and skin!

Fast forward a few years, I transitioned back to eating meat, chicken, and seafood. Guess what also transitioned back?… You guessed it right, my weight and my skin! And let’s not talk about the addition of stress from work, aesthetics school, student loans, and running a business. Let’s just say my chakras were misaligned, my circadian rhythm wasn’t rhyming, and none of my components of wellness were well. My mind was all over the place, my skin had a mind of its own, 

I worked 8 hours a day, then attended school for 4 hours after work and then for 8 hours every weekend for a year. 

I was running on autopilot while drinking my weight in water!

While in aesthetics school we studied the anatomy and physiology of the body, about our systems and how they work together - for and against us. With this information I knew that my unhealthy eating habits would cause me to develop chronic illnesses and diseases, I had to take better care of myself. I could no longer eat things that were going to cause my body harm in the future. I had to do something different. I knew that the change had to start from within. With the increased awareness of my health and body, I began my lifestyle as a vegetarian.

I started by detoxing to eliminate toxins that were in my body. Continuing to increase my daily water intake, I then started making delicious juices and smoothies. Next, I created recipes for all of the ‘sides’ and soups that I’d eat with meat proteins, along with daily meal plans, and lastly, I added my flair to each vegetarian dish to increase the flavor, never standing a chance to miss meat again! 

(check out our recipes section)

Since my transition! I've lost 60 pounds, my skin is very radiant, and I feel amazing. The decision for me to transition to being a vegetarian (and sticking with it) took some time. The journey is your own, don’t rush it and don’t let others have a negative influence on your decision.

Ultimately, we only have one body to live in, make sure that you take care of it.